It's a miserable early August afternoon. The summer has begun to quickly fade away and the rain is pouring from the heavens. Luckily for us, we're sheltered from the grey clouds outside- staring out at passers-by rushing through the rain from the shelter and comfort of Finegan & Son- an unassuming yet, prime speciality coffee spot far from the bright lights and hype of Belfast. From the outside, Finegan & Son looks like it could have been the inspiration for the shop fronts of Diagon Alley (that's one for you Harry Potter fans). Inside, the cafe is minimal, yet quaint- presented in an airy space, with wooden flooring, tables and chairs accompanied by giant windows that allow light to envelop...
Jan Komarek, our Green Coffee Buyer and Head of Quality Control at Bailies Coffee Roasters shares his insights on Ethiopia and the difficulties associated with traceability and transparency. With the introduction of our Ethiopian microlots we felt it was appropriate to disclose why our newly launched Microlot coffees from Ethiopia are not traceable to the washing station or the farmer. Yes, not traceable but read on to learn why. Behind every coffee label is a great story. So, when Jan scheduled the Ethiopian Sidamo microlot coffees for roasting, we couldn’t help reflect on what it took to get it here and the challenges that exist in Ethiopia. It all began before Christmas 2016 when Jan announced he was travelling to...
Post celebrations from his win at this years IBrC, Stephen Houston shares his journey to the world stage and what it takes to raise the bar both mentally and physically! How have you prepared for WBrC? I had prepared quite a bit for the Irish Brewers Cup, starting from the previous year where I competed and came in around 17th place. I used this as my focus and spent the year working on my roasting ability as well brewing. Having done run-throughs, lots of brewing, preparing a presentation and then competing twice to win the IBrC. I was able to gain some really useful feedback from world class judges, this information was extremely helpful when it came to getting ready for...
Walking on air from his win at the Irish Brewers Cup last weekend Stephen Houston was more than happy to share what it takes to win, live the dream and prepare for the world stage. The story behind the coffee The variety is not indigenous to Colombia and the seeds have made their way originally from Yemen. The coffee is characterised by its journey and its unique processing. Handpicked, fermented, then wrapped in cloths for 24 hours so the beans reach high temperatures, further speeding up fermentation enhancing the sweetness and exotic fruit flavours. It is then dried for 33 days alternating sun and shade. Mr Gutierrez has dubbed this as “the honey technique for Naturals”. The coffee (The main subject...
Bailies Coffee Roaster, Stephen Houston shares what it takes to roast the perfect Easter coffee At Bailies Coffee Roasters I always get excited when a new coffee arrives. This week the focus is on Equinox - our spring blend. It all starts at origin when our green coffee buyer selects some samples to be sent back to us at the roastery. The sample roasting and cupping of coffee is always a fun but critical process. Scoring and grading of coffee is also a fundamental part of quality control that we are committed to at Bailies. An important factor when constructing the Equinox Blend was what coffees to use and how they should be roasted. Blends can be tricky to get right...
